The Sheikah Assassin
by GreenFantasy64
Summary: Zelda, a Sheikah assassin is sent to a ball to kill the son of the King of Hyrule, Nigel Link, for her last trial to become a full Sheikah Warrior. The question is, will she succeed in killing him or let him live at the end after meeting him? What will happen afterwards? AU.


Disclaimer: I _GreenFantasy64_ don't own Legend of Zelda or it's characters.

**The Sheikah Assassin **

**Chapter One: **

Peering over the edge of the rooftop, Zelda saw the height to the balcony. It wasn't a long fall, so she jumped over and landed on graceful feet.

Confident that no one would come outside of the party to see a mysterious woman appearing out of nowhere next to a dead body, she pulled out the _senbon_ from the guard's neck. Wiping the blood on her long tunic, she put it away in her back pouch before dumping the body over the edge. It landed in the hedges below with little sound.

_The shadows are friends, _Zelda reminded herself of Impa's wise words. _Listen to them and let them help you in your quest._

On the sound of soft hooting, she peered over the edge of the balcony to see a barn house owl on the bench near a fountain. Underneath its feet laid a ball gown that she was supposed to wear for the event. She rolled her eyes. She had complained to the elders and to Impa to allow her to wear her traditional Sheikah outfit for this assassination mission, or in this case, her last test to become a Sheikah warrior. However, they would not hear her words of reasoning why she didn't want to wear the dress; it will just get in her way.

After a final warning to postpone or decline her path of warrior, she hushed up and left it at that.

She worked long and hard over the last two years; she couldn't give up or lose her chance to earn the title: Zelda, the Sheikah Warrior. It will get the other Sheikah people to respect her for being different. For not carrying their blood in her veins.

Impa had found her on her front steps, abandoned by her true parents. Being one of the elites in the Sheikah tribe in Creeping Snake Forest, she tossed out all rules and took in the blue eyed baby girl. Zelda did not carry the abilities that all Sheikah people had. In truth, she needed to depend on enchanted items to help her out in missions. A thing she hated. It always reminded her of how dependent she was on the stuff. It let everyone know forever as a daily reminder of how weak she was without them.

So she grew up being picked on.

She was picked on at training grounds or on the street to her house. Everywhere that gave others around her age a chance to give her a hard time. Adults she could handle. All they ever did was glare, whisper behind her back, and encourage their children to continue picking on her.

Zelda rolled her eyes at that thought and climbed over the edge.

Holding onto the rail, she exhaled and did a back flip to land on the ground below. With the sound of her feet stepping on the tiny rocks, she stood up and twirled around.

Grabbing the dress in hand, she continued to think back to the past.

The only thing she hated was when the adults gave her adopted mother a hard time, along with their continuous conversation of taking both of them out of the Sheikah tribe with the elders. Luckily, the elders loved Impa and found Zelda's growing talents to be a potential to have on their side.

Checking to make sure there were no guards in sight, Zelda pulled the dress over her head. Adjusting it and getting rid of the long wrinkles, she sighed. The brown coated owl hooted once before taking off to the night sky.

_Let's get this last test over with…_

Touching the crystal bracelet on her right hand, she added her own weak magic to the enchantment to control the shadows near the bushes, close to the balcony. Feeling herself being lifted, she waited until the balcony edge was within reach. Ending the spell, she gripped the rail and pulled herself up.

On the sounds of the balcony doors being opened, she flinched then froze in fear. She crouched with her hands still touching the rail. Her crystal blue eyes focused on a couple leaning their heads together and talking in slurring tongues. She sighed, but kept her guard up.

_A drunken couple. _

Assuming it safe, she straightened back up and walked past them as they ignored her. Hearing their slopping kisses behind her—Zelda held back her disgust in her mind—she opened one door and entered the ballroom quietly.

The lively music of violins, flutes, and pipes playing somewhere inside flowed toward her ears. Several pairs of dancers danced in a slow rhythm in the middle of the room. The ones not dancing stood gathered around the dancing circle or sat in chairs near the wall.

Scanning the crowd for her target, she didn't miss seeing a Sheikah hiding near the shadows, taking small sips of wine.

She frowned.

Zelda had forgotten every time a young Sheikah takes the five trials to become a Sheikah warrior, an experienced one watches from a distance so they may tell the elders if they truly pass or not. He also told what they did wrong and what they excelled at in their mission.

She relaxed her facial features at seeing that this older Sheikah wasn't part of the ones that loved to make her life miserable.

Making her way in a slow pace around the circle of guests, she searched for her target and found him at last. She had expected him to be dancing or chatting with the lower nobles, but no. He was sitting down next to the King's throne. Alone, if you didn't count the three guards nearby.

Zelda stopped for a second.

What was she supposed to do now? Ask him for a dance? Lead him away to kill him?

She didn't have long to puzzle over this as his eyes shifted and gazed into hers. A soft tsk escaped her lips as she made her way toward the prince.

_I didn't get the chance to plan ahead, _Zelda thought bitterly to herself.

However, it wasn't all her fault. The elders had sent her on a hurry after a long discussion of the mission. It was somewhat simple: kill the prince of Hyrule, the only son of the King.

It was the reason that was not simple.

The reason was so that any nobles had a higher chance to take the throne after the King passed away. In fact, one of the nobles was a descendent of the Sheikah. His name being Zant.

From what she gathered, Zant along with another descendent, Midna are from a family that took centuries and lots of magic to blend one family of Sheikah into the Hylians blind eye. Little by little the family picked off members of the Royal family so that there will only be a handful to finish off. It was for the revenge of all Sheikah that were betrayed by the Royal family in the Great Hyrule War.

This was the time to do the second to last blow to the Royal family.

With a deep exhale, Zelda smiled and bowed to the prince.

"Hello," She started to say.

She looked up and found him still staring at her, but with a bored look in his eyes.

Zelda cleared her throat to continue, "It's nice to meet you, Prince Nigel."

He was silent until he finally spoke in a soft voice, "No."

Startled, she stuttered out, "W-what?"

He broke their eye contact to stare at the ceiling and sighed, "No, I do not wish to dance. Sorry, but dancing is not my thing."

She rose her eyebrow and stated, "Oh, well wearing a dress is not my thing, but here I am wearing one after all."

She wave her hand over at her dress. His black eyes flashed back to her.

Feeling his eyes burn deep to her soul, she crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side. She flinched when he started to laugh.

_What's wrong with me?! A Sheikah must always hide their emotions when on duty._

Yet here she was in front of her target, experiencing emotions on her last trial. Not forgetting about the little spy watching her every move, she simply thought it was to help her get closer to the target.

It will do her no good if she killed him early and not in front of the King. People will panic, Zant will grow furious at her, and guards will chase her down. She was good at killing, but not good at killing dozens while escaping. No, she didn't know the layout of the inside or half of the outside of the Castle. The only reason she managed to get there was by hiding under Zant's carriage. What message will that send to the people and the King about a simple kill? Nothing that Zant and the elders will expect to like.

No, she needed to kill the prince near the balcony doors, in front of the King. Also, she had to make a short and bittersweet message before that.

If only the mission was simpler than that. But Zant and Midna had planned this for years after their parents passed away. They had discussed this with the elders for hours today. They were sure this was the perfect time to move the plan a step forward.

"So instead of dancing, which will do both of us a great favor—as I fear that I will trip in this dress—why don't we just walk around the room chatting?" Zelda offered.

The young Sheikah hoped that the prince would accept her offer.

He narrowed his eyes.

"No dancing?"

She shook her head and promised, "No dancing."

A short pause passed between them, so she took the time to look behind her. A few gossipers were pointing at them and chattering among themselves. A pang of fear went through her body. She hoped that they wouldn't remember her face after this night.

"What's your name?" He asked her.

Licking her lips, she focused back on the prince and replied, "Zelda. Obviously, yours is Prince Nigel Link."

Everyone in Hyrule Kingdom knew the King's and Prince's names, unless they lived underneath a rock.

He made a face.

"You don't have to use my title." Beaming, he quickly stood up and chirped out, "I think we can friends, Zelda!"

She controlled her urge to take a step back on his sudden change, and calmly asked, "Friends?"

He nodded, "Yes, you'll be my first real friend. You're different… in a good way."

She frowned and said, "But you're a prince… don't you have lots of friends?"

His smile gone, he replied in a solemn tone, "Some are backstabbers and others just pass away."

Her jaw dropped a few degrees. _Somewhat similar to me…_

"I know that feeling…" She shifted again and rubbed her elbow. "I guess I can be your friend then," She said.

Part of her screamed of what she was doing while the other part was happy to finally have a friend.

_This is wrong! I can't get attached this man—he is my target; my ticket to becoming a Sheikah warrior! _

Nigel started to walk around the edge of the crowd and Zelda trailed behind him. She took the time to study his looks. He didn't have his father's hair or eyes so she assumed he got the coloring from his mother. His skin was tan from spending all the time outdoors in the hot sun. His clothes were of a black tunic with gold trimmings on the edges, that was carefully handmade for him.

_He is handsome,_ she thought as she continued to look at him with her peripheral vision.

Racking her head for a topic to start, she found she didn't know what to really say. She couldn't say straight out, 'Oh, by the way, I'm going to kill you since it's my mission to, so I hope we're still friends afterwards!' or she couldn't say anything about her tribe that will label her as a traitor either.

"How old are you?" she asked him after a while.

A simple question to help them start talking more to each other.

He glanced at her and replied, "Twenty."

"Oh," she said afterwards. "I'm eighteen."

"Since we hardly know each other, I might as will join in on the question game. What do you think of the ball?"

She glanced around. She found the King in the middle of the dance with a younger woman in his arms. Both smiling and laughing together. The walls were the color of cream and had golden outlined designs in them. Her eyes shifted upward to find the ceiling carefully decorated with Hyrule's past way before the Kingdom was made. Monsters were on one side led by a shadowy figure, facing the people— along with the Sheikah and other different tribes—on the other side led by a woman. It was the Goddess that the Kingdom was named after, Hylia.

"I like the music," she pointed out and found him smiling to her answer.

"It is nice," he agreed.

The young Sheikah sent another question to him, "Okay, next question… hobby?"

He tilted his head.

"Sharpening my skills in swordsmanship and playing the ocarina. How about yours?"

_Reading stories of the Sheikah's point of view in the Great Hyrule War, honing each and every one of my skills, and studying magic. _"Playing my harp," she answered, not mentioning her thoughts out loud.

She stopped in front of the balcony doors and pushed aside the long curtain to see outside. The couple was long gone, leaving a bare balcony. She unfocused her eyes to stare at her reflection. Blonde hair pulled up to a tight bun, her usual sharp crystal blue eyes had softened, and she touched the glass where her pale cheek was at.

_Is this my fate? To be raised in the Sheikah's tribe to be killing the Prince of Hyrule? Why me? _

She thought back to how they wanted her to kill the prince instead of the king, to forcing her to wear a dress, and to Impa giving her a hug. A hug that she rarely gives as Sheikah must not show emotions, for it's a sign of weakness. She glanced behind her in the reflection to look for the hidden Sheikah and Zant, who was next to his older sister. He was merrily talking to a noble family, as well as the happy King. Then she searched and counted more than twenty guards stationed close to the walls, minus the ones who followed the prince.

It dawned on her that maybe she was supposed to die instead of live after this night. She never trained before in a dress, plus it will be time-consuming to reach for a _senbon_ underneath her dress, or to take it off to help her escape faster. It will be easier to do a silent kill than kill in plain sight in her opinion. But what if it wouldn't be the guards that will kill her, but the Sheikah who is supposed to be watching her every move?

_But the elders and Impa wouldn't do this to me, would they? They wouldn't want me dead._

Feeling the betrayal creeping up to her heart, she took deep breaths to control her breathing. To help her not cry at the harsh sting.

_How could they do this to me after all these years of accepting me into their clan? _

"Zelda?"

She felt and seen Nigel place a hand on her shoulder. She saw the concern in his eyes.

Zelda turned around.

_They betrayed me after all these years. The other Sheikahs had hated me with a deep passion also. They will pay for that then. I'll make them pay. Screw my years of hard training to become a Sheikah Warrior! I bet that they never wanted to give it to me in the first place. _"I need you to come outside with me," she muttered to the prince.

He rose an eyebrow and made to ask her a question, when she interrupted him.

"Or you will be killed in this very spot."

Mentally wincing, she told herself it was a necessity to say that if they didn't want any eavesdropping from within the crowd or from the Sheikah. She stared down the prince, despite being two inches shorter than him, with a serious aura. She had to warn his father and him of the danger they were in.

_I was always Hylian to begin with, so Hyrule is my home. I need to protect it now. _

Finally, after the painfully long silence between them, he nodded. She sighed underneath her breath and opened the door for him. Just before she closed it she set her eyes on the shadowy Sheikah, who had straightened up at the sight of losing her beyond the balcony doors. She made herself a mental note to deal with him after this. She knew it will be a challenge to fight against a more experienced Sheikah, but she grew confident on knowing she still had more of a chance than a normal hylian would.

The young Sheikah closed the doors with a soft click.

_I won't betray my friend as they did me._

* * *

Edited by: SweetestChick : D (Thank you!)

A/N: So this fanfic was supposed to be an one-shot for My Twisted Fairytales, but it changed so I decided to continue this at a slow pace. ^^

In fact to help me out, do you guys have any suggestions of assassin type books I can read? Thank you in advance! : D

Also I was reading in the Zelda's wiki about Sheikah and started thinking have anybody wrote a fic dealing about the Sheikah race? (Somebody probably did and I haven't bothered to find and read it ^^') I mean some were betrayed and drafted to become the Twilis people and others died in the Hyrulean Civil War leaving only a few handful left. I can try to on and on about this topic and see if I can created a fanfic for Impa, Sheik, Dark Link, and Zelda in this time (unless I do a thoroughly research of the Sheikah topic that will change up the story idea) so how about a writing challenge for you guys?

For any fanfic writers that are having a hard time figuring out what to write or any Dark Zelink *Hint, Hint* that wants to start writing for this pairing but don't know what to write yet... Write a multi-chapter fic dealing with the Sheikah and the Hyrulean Civil War, how Royal family betrayed them, to them splitting up, to them being banished, and to whatever you want to end it as : ) Do you want Dark Link a Sheikah? Sheik having an important role? Impa young but plays a key part (It is stated that she sealed Bongo Bongo)? Zelda that will be later be a mother to Zelda in OoT? If you guys do this challenge, let me know! I would love to read it. : D

Until next time...

~GreenFantasy64


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